Steamboat girls skate strong at states

U19 hockey team wins Denver tournament

Steamboat Springs  When they first played together as a U14 team, they scored one goal all season.

Now, the seniors on the Steamboat girls hockey team can truly claim they came full circle. They won the U19 AA state championship Sunday, defeating their rival, Telluride, 2-0, in the championship game in Denver.

“They definitely stepped up and made this their moment,” coach Alexa Pighini said.

Meghan Lukens led the way for the team, hammering in a pair of upper-corner goals to give Steamboat the lead in the first period, then a cushion in the third.

She got assists from Claire Tegl and Lilly Hoff.

“They were really, really sweet goals,” Pighini said. “Everyone played extremely well. Everyone stepped up to play, and it was amazing.”

The championship capped the team’s most successful season, far outpacing the finishes to its previous seasons.

The chance to play for the title came after the team rampaged through the tournament’s early rounds, a 1-1 tie against Telluride the only bump in that road.

Then, in the championship game, Steamboat drew Telluride again and notched its most impressive win against the two-time defending champions.

“It was awesome,” Pighini said.

U14 girls hockey team falls short of championship

Steamboat’s U14 girls hockey team fell just short of a state championship Sunday, losing 2-1 to Aspen in a shootout that broke a scoreless tie in the championship game of the state tournament in Littleton.

“It was very, very exciting,” Steamboat coach Harold Stout said. “It was a great game and the girls played fantastic. They did everything the coaches asked of them, and they did everything in their ability to win. The puck just didn’t fall our way today.”

Stout said Steamboat’s Ali Aurin played a major role in helping Steamboat push the game through two overtime periods and set up the decisive shootout.

“Both goalies played outstanding,” Stout said. “Right now, the girls are still pretty broken up about it, but upon reflection, they’ll realize what they accomplished.”

The team crammed the tournament into the weekend, and by the end, the team’s entire 11-player roster — well smaller than most of its opponents’ rosters — was exhausted.

The squad went 2-1-1 in the round robin portion of the tournament before winning its semifinal game to advance to the championship match.

“They were toast,” Stout said of his team as the championship game drug on. “Afterward, the Aspen coaches came up and said ‘Wow, your girls are sure in great shape.’”

Telemark GS results, Keystone

Men

Matias Wagenius, Sweden, 2:36.25

Philippe Lau, France, 2:36.62

Daniel Forrer, Switzerland, 2:37.87

Bastien Dayer, Switzerland, 2:38.69

Sven Lau, France, 2:40.71

Antoine Bouvier, France, 2:41.36

Harald Kvaerner, Norway, 2:45.14

Troels Tore Larsen, Denmark, 2:45.52

Chris Lau, France, 2:45.57

Shane Anderson, United States, 2:49.64

Thomas Bergfors, Denmark, 2:48.45

Luka Pintar, Slovenia, 2:51.18

Tine Kolenc, Slovenia, 2:52.31

David Hobbs, United States, 2:53.86

Kamil Dostal, Czech Republic, 2:55.24

Jeffrey Gay, United States, 2:55.31

Cory Snyder, United States, 2:55.78

Charlie Dresen, United States, 2:56.30

Drew Hauser, United States, 2:59.01

Jack Long, United States, 3:03.74

Josh Lanzetta, United States, 3:04.91

Ken Recker, United States, 3:11.38

Chris Henery, United States, 3:13.92

Cole Schneider, United States, 3:17.22

Yoda Kentaro, Japan, 3:17.41

Sadahiro Kazunori, Japan, 3:24.31

John Aiden Rohde, United States, 3:32.62

Richard Parrott, Great Britain, 3:35.27

Birk Larsen, United States, 3:46.67

Women

Amélie Reymond, Switzerland, 2:42.45

Sandrine Meyer, Switzerland, 2:43.02

Katinka Knudsen, Norway, 2:51.69

Suzanne Scheller, Germany, 2:53.80

Melodie David-Metral, France, 2:58.16

Maren Ulvestad Haugsten, Norway, 3:02.61

Lisa Englund, Sweden, 3:03.66

Raquel Bau Lau, Spain, 3:10.08

Julie Duedahl, Denmark, 3:11.86

Madi McKinstry, United States, 3:20.08

Erika Walters, United States, 3:20.81

Rachel Morgan, Great Britain, 3:33.49

Sarah Hannibal, Great Britain, 3:37.06

Telemark World Cup wraps up in Keystone

Switzerland’s Amélie Reymond wrapped up her dominating week on the Telemark World Cup circuit by winning a telemark giant slalom event at Keystone on Sunday.

The event wrapped up the World Cup’s stop in Colorado. It was Reymond’s fifth stop at the top of the podium in the seven-event tour, which included three races last week in Steamboat Springs.

Reymond was second in one of the other races and third in the last one. She didn’t miss the podium all week.

Sandrine Meyer was second in the race, and Katinka Knudsen was third. The United States was paced by Steamboat teenager Madi McKinstry, who was 10th. Local skier Erika Walters was 11th.

Matias Wagenius won Sunday’s mens GS race, ahead of Philippe Lau, who was second, and Daniel Forrer in third.

Shane Anderson was the top local finisher, wrapping up his most successful stint on the tour with a 10th-place showing. He earned his first two podiums in five years on the tour earlier in the week.

Davis Hobbs was 14th, and Jeffrey Gay was 16th. That pair led the way for a long string of United States finishers. Cory Snyder, Charlie Dresen, Drew Hauser, Jack Long, Josh Lanzetta, Ken Recker, Chris Henery and Cole Schneider all filed in right behind Gay, filling the spots from 17th to 24th.